Comments on: Tax Preparation Help – Online, Software, Professional, and Paper

By: Turbotax presents the 11 Most Commonly Missed Tax Deductions

Turbotax presents the 11 Most Commonly Missed Tax Deductions — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 07:44:54 +0000

[...] don’t miss out on itWe’re smack dab in the middle of tax time and for those of us who do our own taxes that means zeroing in on every tax deduction possible. At this point in my life I don’t [...]

By: Robert Espe

Robert Espe — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:01:48 +0000

Carrie,
Short answer, you shouldn’t get in trouble as long as you follow what is on your W-2′s, although if you are really concerned you could always consult a professional, but their time can be expensive. As long as the company he works for has your husband’s correct address, I wouldn’t worry about it.

By: Carrie

Carrie — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:06:18 +0000

Thanks for your help! I looked at my W-2′s and yep, I had one for each state (MN and WI). Now my problem is that my husband only had W-2′s for one state (MN, where we used to live), not two like me. When we moved, he had a job in MN, so I’m not sure if they just never knew that he had moved or if he ever told them. Also, he started working in WI but this particular job (a local YMCA) probably assumed he still lived in MN since he used to work at a MN YMCA. Ok, so my question is, do we need to worry about the fact that my husband’s two W-2′s only show MN income tax withheld? Is there any way to remedy this or is it two late? Would we get in trouble for the fact that his only show MN income tax withheld? I’m confused by it all. We entered it all into turbotax delux and we are set up to get about $2K total in federal/state tax refund, but I’m not sure if we’re okay to file right now since it seems like this issue needs resolving. Any advice? Thanks!

By: Robert Espe

Robert Espe — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 17:08:01 +0000

Glad you asked Carrie. I say go ahead, especially since you have a couple years experience. I actually had a similar situation this year.

I moved from MN to TX, only to immediately begin work in NM for 6 months (while my wife stayed in MN and worked there). I still used Turbo Tax (and believe me when I say I am NOT a tax professional). It will not complicate the Federal side at all, and the states (if applicable) will be separate.

Two things you should plan for:

one, if you receive W-2′s, check them. They will show which states withheld income tax from your checks. Those are the states you need to file in. The other is that Turbo Tax Deluxe comes with only one free state. You can add as many as you need, but there is a nominal charge ($20?) for each addition.

By: Carrie

Carrie — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 16:05:44 +0000

What are your thoughts on using TurboTax if you live in one state and work in another? That’s my situation, and my husband works in BOTH states. And we bought our first house last year too. People I’ve talked to recommend that we use a professional but I would like to use TurboTax to save money (I have used it for two years and it worked fine, but now our situation is much different). Do you have any thoughts on this? Thanks!

By: Matt Jabs

Matt Jabs — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:10:16 +0000

Yeah, I’m glad my dad helped me through my first tax return… I’ve been doing my own ever since and love it.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:32:09 +0000

Good Article! I’m almost convinced… But I’m so lazy. Maybe next year.

By: Allison

Allison — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:34:29 +0000

Hi, Matt.
I am a tax professional, and I use Turbo Tax every year for my return. I work in corporate tax currently, so I don’t complete client tax returns, although I used to several years ago. It has always surprised me how many people with simple returns (even the 1040EZ) want a tax pro to complete their returns for them. I always try to encourage friends and family without complicated returns to try Turbo Tax first. They are usually surprised how straight forward it is.

By: BG

BG — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:38:45 +0000

Hi Robert! You are anonymous when calling the IRS, they don’t ask for your name, SS number, or anything personally identifying. As for asking the IRS for something you might not think is allowed, there is nothing wrong with asking!

For me, I’m doing some tricky stuff (in my opinion), and the IRS agent said it is completely legit and people do it all the time, I just needed the phase-out numbers and a better description of the law. One thing to take note of when calling the IRS is that the representative will give you their name and their IRS ID number (which you should keep) if you really think you are doing something questionable, and the IRS representative says it was OK. It’s always good to have records in case of an audit!

Anyhow, I’ve always found that the IRS is very courteous and welcoming when I call to ask questions. Now, if you are on the audit side, that is a different matter altogether You don’t want to find out you did something wrong 3 years later…

By: Robert Espe

Robert Espe — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:12:01 +0000

Very true BG.

I always tell people that if they are afraid to call the IRS to ask if they can do something with their taxes, they already know they can’t.

By: BG

BG — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:50:15 +0000

One of the best resources is simply the IRS itself. You can browse their website, or call and speak with a live person if you have tax questions:

http://www.irs.gov/help/article/0,,id=96730,00.html

I plan on calling them a few times to finish my taxes this year (using TaxAct).

By: Flexo

Flexo — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 17:02:13 +0000

I’ve used TurboTax in the past and switched to TaxAct when it was less expensive for me, but now I plan on sending all my info to an accountant and letting him handle the whole thing. It’s gotten a lot more complicated, and I could probably do it myself, but it would take too much time that could be better spent doing other things.

By: Matt Jabs

Matt Jabs — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 20:26:06 +0000

Yeah, the import feature saves a lot of time.

By: Andrew @ Earn Give Save

Andrew @ Earn Give Save — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 15:32:07 +0000

We've used TurboTax desktop software each year since we got married. It's simple, easy-to-use, and we're able to keep a running history from past years. We recently won a copy of TurboTax Online Premier from Money Crashers, so I expect we'll use that this year. It does appear that we'll be able to import last year's information as well.

By: Robert Espe

Robert Espe — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 14:17:24 +0000

Mine could. But when I asked if she would mind (to save money) she said she would be getting Turbo Tax unless I wanted to spend my time reading the tax publications. Yes Dear.

By: Jamel Finsurance

Jamel Finsurance — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 12:48:08 +0000

I used TaxAct this year. I think it is a good move if you plan for what you’re doing.

By: Matt Jabs

Matt Jabs — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 04:52:58 +0000

Ha ha, maybe I could have you write a guest post on financial filters for choosing a spouse.

By: Joe

Joe — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 23:37:56 +0000

This is what I think.

When you think about getting married, ask yourself, (If I marry her, could she do the taxes?)

I hit the jackpot with my wife even though I didn’t think like this before I got married.

By: FinancialBondage

FinancialBondage — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 22:48:27 +0000

I’ve used TaxAct the last 3 years. great product good price.

By: Matt Jabs

Matt Jabs — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 21:54:04 +0000

Yeah, my taxes aren’t overly complicated either… but I always plan to do them myself if at all possible – I would not want to have my own tax/financial situation taken out of my hands.